In what might sound like a dream come true, prison inmates in China are forced to farm gold in the MMORPG World of Warcraft.

Obviously, things aren’t always as great as they sound. Check out the video below to understand why…

So instead of just suffering physically, China’s prisoners also have to suffer mentally. What might seem like an addictive hobby for a lot of gamers is torture to these prisoners.

According to the Guardian, “prison bosses made more money forcing inmates to play games than they do forcing people to do manual labour.”

This is no surprise as the virtual economy is growing rapidly. Around the World, millions of gamers are prepared to pay real money for virtual currency to obtain virtual goods in games. It is known as “gold farming” – the practice of building up credits and online value through the monotonous repetition of basic tasks in online games such as World of Warcraft. The trade in virtual assets is very real, and outside the control of game publishers.

Figures from the China Internet Centre show that nearly 2 billion dollars worth of virtual currency was traded in China in 2008 and the number of gamers who play to trade credits are on the rise. It is estimated that 80% of all gold farmers are in China; with 100,000 full-time gold farmers in the country.

From the sound of things, China is also going to be a leader of labour exploitation in the virtual world.

Most men have probably been asked this question millions of times. The most typical answers are the eyes, mouth, and hair. The most honest answer would be boobs. But for this certain man, his answer would definitely be feet…

Meet Mr. Liu, he loves feet so much, he will lick them clean.

Based in Wuhan city, Mr. Liu likes to stalk his prey on Wednesday and Friday of each week. When the moment is right, he will strike. First he takes 200 yuan ($30) only, then he will take off your shoes, then socks, surely. Be it large or small, dirty or clean; he will lick them all.

I’m not sure what to post lately. Any Chinese related news are either too serious or just plain boring. Next Media has slacked off and are now just making animated news mocking U.S.A.

What I’m left with is a whole bunch of items related to animal cruelty.

To be honest, I don’t really have much compassion for animals other than humans. I usually laugh at those silly animal rights activists but these recent cases of animal cruelty have really got me fuming…